Dr Nick Coatsworth was Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the Covid pandemic, but now he has called for a vaccine mandate apology. The lockdowns and school closures were not "evidence based," and he agreed with the just released Covid-19 Response Inquiry Report, which has concluded that the harsh measures adopted during the pandemic has led to people losing faith in the health system, which is spot-on: https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/covid-19-response-inquiry-report. But this report has been criticised by even the mainstream media for being limited, and "whitewashing" the mismanagement which occurred: https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/inquiry-whitewashes-the-colossal-mismanagement-20241028-p5klrp. As the Fin Review put it:
"The states' actions were considered out of scope – even though it was the states that visited lockdowns, curfews, school closures, and masking rules upon their terrified populations, justifying this abuse by pointing to that very fear and baselessly claiming these policies would reduce the threat of COVID-19.
Despite giving damning expert evidence to this inquiry, I guessed – based on the brazen lack of acknowledgement of or accountability for mistakes displayed by Australia's political class – that the report would be a whitewash.
We know that those in authority ignored, with horrific consequences, the danger of fanatical fear; the danger of relying on data-free modelling rather than real science; the danger of suppressing dissent and coal-face experimentation in a crisis; the danger of ignoring time-tested principles like freedom of movement and freedom from medical coercion; and the danger of placing religious faith in novel, barely tested injectable products, while ignoring or even, unconscionably, suppressing the healing potential of existing knowledge, protocols, and drugs, not to mention the power of our bodies to mount natural protective defences when properly supported and nourished.
Worst of all, our governments in their hubris ignored the danger of thinking the operation and fruits of a vibrant economy could be suspended and replaced by government action.
We are now in far more debt, with less societal strength and cohesion, less trust in our public institutions, and less health than before. These outcomes are because of the colossal mismanagement of the crisis by our so-called leaders."
This as well is too mild in my opinion; the political leaders and technocrats knew what they were doing, and they had the power to find out in any case if they cared. So, at best, reckless indifference to the suffering caused, and clear grounds for criminal trials. I think things went far beyond a lack of concern with the evidence. They wanted to see if they could get away with it, and so far have.